A woman who was severely bullied and fat-shamed by her boyfriend has transformed her life by losing five stones in weight and dropping four dress sizes.
Emily de Luzy, 24, was mistreated by her boyfriend and teased at school for her weight, causing her to fall into a depressive cycle that saw her hide her body away and find comfort in eating.
"I was out of shape before and I was so determined to prove the school bullies and people who had shamed me for my weight that I could get in great shape," said Emily.
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"I started my journey at the age of 19 when I came to terms with the fact that I was overweight, unfit and was using food to tackle my emotions. I had a boyfriend who shamed me for my weight and openly admitted to me that throughout our relationship he fed me up deliberately because the fatter I got, the less people would look at me."
"I got called names in the gym when I was running on the treadmill at the beginning of my weight loss journey - I was always known as the chubby one. When I went on holiday with my friends, to get into the pool I used to get them to pretend to push me clothed so I didn't have to undress down into just my swimsuit."
After years of abuse, she made the move to change her life.
"I decided to lose weight then to push it even further to compete as a bikini competitor and then sustain the physique I've always wanted," said Emily.
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"I've lost five-stone, gone down four dress sizes and have gone through every emotion possible through trial and error of many diets, dealing with breaking habits and genuinely sticking at it to get to where I wanted to be.
"Now that I worship, respect and love my body it allows me to run long distances, lift heavy weights and jump around in training classes. I am proud of the body I was born with now and I am no longer scared of mirrors nor fitted clothes."
"Right now, I am currently eating 2,000 calories plus per day and I still get hungry. Calories and food are our friends and I see way too many diets going around which include such low calories, our bodies aren't designed to live off restricted calories especially if we want to build some muscle and have a toned, balanced physique.
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"My calories come from good food sources and provide me with all the nutrients I need to fuel me for my week both mentally and physically."
Now, she shares her story on social media to show her progress and inspire others.
"I started my Instagram account as it allowed me to communicate with like-minded people and it also spurred me on to keep going as I would write posts informing my followers of my plans," she said.
"For instance, I once announced that I was going booze free for three months and I swear to this day that because of that and promising others I didn't have a sip for a whole three months."
Posting my journey via social media has definitely enhanced opportunities for me. I've managed to connect with people from all over the world and now have a great platform to speak to people in the same position I was before I started my weight loss journey."
"A lot of people ask me how I do it and I'm always honoured when people do ask and always try to encourage and advise others if they show an interest in my journey."
Not all responses are positive, she says.
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"I've had some bad reactions too, mostly from people who don't understand nor want to understand why I go to the gym and why I eat clean and healthy. Normally this is from people that from the outside looking in aren't overly happy with themselves."
"In all honesty, I only surround myself with positive and supportive people and this is one thing I'm incredibly strict on, no one needs bad eggs in their lives, so I make sure I have none in mine."
Topics: Body, Community, Fitness, Health